


You Don't Have To Talk About It

by LuminousMe



Category: Julie and the Phantoms
Genre: Abusive Parents, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reggie Centric, Reggie's Parents Suck, Sunset Curve, Supportive Sunset Curve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27476347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuminousMe/pseuds/LuminousMe
Summary: Usually, Alex and Luke pick Reggie up down the street from his house. However, Luke'sreallygotta go, man.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 206





	You Don't Have To Talk About It

**Author's Note:**

> Anon asks:
> 
> okay i have a headcanon about how luke and alex find out how bad reggie's home life really is. Because reggie wouldn't tell them bc he's embarrassed and doesn't want to burden them with it. But they notice reggie's quirks and how he NEVER invites them to his house. and then one day as they are picking reggie up in alex's beat up truck luke is dying for the bathroom so he asks reggie to let him in, and him and alex are witnesses to a screaming match inside and reggie's parents insulting him.
> 
> I’m not sure if this was exactly what you had in mind, but I’ve always felt like Reggie’s parents had a ‘be pleasant when in public’ kind of stance on their family disputes. Behind closed doors, however…

“I gotta go, Alex,” Luke says, in the passenger seat of Alex’s second-hand Chevrolet pick up. 

His dad had surprised him with the beaten up truck last Spring, for his sixteenth. It was in desperate need of some TLC, but the two of them had spent plenty of long summer evenings together, crouched over the open hood, examining the engine and fixing it up. 

“ _See, Al, look here,_ ” his dad had said in early September, when the warm summer air carried a bite of fall. “ _This, here, is why the air-con won’t run. The coolant is leaking over here, see?_ ” He’d directed Alex’s gaze over to the back of the engine, where a tangle of steel pipes seemed to be leaking some kind of fluid.

“ _Coolant… Sure. I see it._ ” Alex had nodded along, even though he had no idea which part the man seemed to be referring to directly.

“ _Shouldn’t be too much trouble. We’ll just need to get a new valve. I’ll speak to the boys in the shop tomorrow.”_

And then he had clapped a hand on Alex’s shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. Alex had smiled. “ _Sounds good,”_ he’d said.

The guys at the shop ordered the part the same day Alex decided to tell his parents how he felt about other boys.

He’s still not sure if the part ever arrived. 

He rubs his finger against his lips.

“Alex, did you hear me?” Luke says again. 

“Yeah, dude, I hear you. We’re almost there, just hold it,” Alex says, knocking the indicator to turn left onto Reggie’s street. 

He glances over to Luke, who’s face is all screwed up in over-dramatic agony. The boy presses his fist to his mouth and shakes his head. “I can’t wait till we get to town, Al.”

“ _See, Al, look here,” his dad had said._

Alex clicks his tongue. “Come on, don’t be such a baby. You went at mine like an hour ago. Did you get a kitten bladder transfusion in the meantime or something?”

Luke turns to Alex with urgency. “You think Reggie will let me use his bathroom?”

Alex’s eyebrows knit. “He doesn’t even let us pull up outside, I don’t think he’s gonna actually let you inside his house.”

“Alex, _please_.” 

Alex pulls his attention from the road momentarily and regrets it almost immediately. He doesn’t know what it is about Luke’s big brown puppy dog eyes that gets to him, but he’s such a sucker for them.

Alex groans and takes another turn, which takes them further into the neighbourhood. He spots Reggie’s house at the end of the end of the street.

Luke is already unbuckling his seatbelt. “Oh my god, sweet freedom,” he says, before throwing himself out of the still moving car. Alex panics and hits the break, causing Luke to lose his footing as he trips on the outer step. He hits the asphalt but is back on his feet in a heart beat. 

He throws a short, but scathing, look in Alex’s direction before he jogs towards Reggie’s house. Alex curses and whacks on the parking break, before yanking his keys out of the ignition and chasing after him. 

“Reg,” Luke calls, slamming the heel of his palm against the burgundy door. “Reg, please, it’s an emergency.”

Alex reaches him and grabs his arm, pulling him away from the front door. “Dude, have some decorum, jeez.”

“Alex, I’m going to get a urine infection and then I’m going to _die,”_ Luke says, thrusting his hands onto his hips. “And that will be on–”

_Smash._

Both boys flinch at the sound of glass shattering inside. They look at each other and Luke seems to forget about his fantasy urine infection for a moment as his brows knit in concern. 

“What was that?” Luke asks.

“Did that come from inside?” Alex finds himself stepping back.

The door is torn open and they are met by a man in his late fifties with sagging cheeks and a thinning crop of grey hair. He’s panting and there’s blood on his fingers. Alex blinks and swallows his fear. 

“What?” The man demands, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Well? You selling cookies or something, what do you want?”

“I–I thought–”

“Dad,” Reggie says, appearing at the man’s elbow. His face falls when he sees Alex and Luke, standing on the porch. He wets his red lips, his brows tilted with nerves.

Alex finds himself flooded with a harrowing sense of familiarity. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Reggie asks, his voice at half volume. “I said I’d meet you down the street.”

Luke bites on his lower lip.

“Um, would it be okay if I used your bathroom?” Luke asks, eyes flicking to Reggie’s father. “If that’s okay.”

Reggie’s eyelids flutter and he glances at his father. 

“Uh, yeah, yeah, sure,” he says, putting out a hand and beckoning Luke to follow him. 

Luke steps around Reggie’s dad, who continues to linger in the doorway, forcing him to squeeze through. 

Alex watches as his friends disappear down a hallway and realises he’s now alone with Reggie’s dad. He shoves his white-knuckled fists into his pockets as he attempts a friendly smile. 

“Hi, I’m Alex, by the way.”

The man sniffs, before turning back into the house. 

“Reg,” he barks and the boy appears from the hall, hands clasped at his front, teeth worrying his lower lip. The man clicks his fingers towards another door and stalks that way. 

Reggie looks once at Alex as he follows the man in. 

Before the door can swing shut behind him, Alex catches a glimpse of four fat fingers on Reggie’s neck, pushing him forward and causing him to stumble. 

And then he’s out of sight and Alex feels a tightness in his chest. It’s only a minute before Luke returns from the bathroom, looking pale. Alex nods. 

They’re both witnessing the same horror.

They linger on the porch, but five minutes go by and Reggie is nowhere to be seen.

“I think we should wait in the truck,” Alex says softly to Luke, who looks back over his shoulder, into the house, before agreeing with a short nod. 

They wait. Luke sits in the middle of the backseat, elbows on his knees, fingers to his lips. Alex chews on his thumb nail. 

Eventually, the passenger door clunks opens and Reggie climbs inside. The clap of the door being pulled shut again resonates throughout the cab. 

And then the three of them sit in thick silence.

Finally, Alex lets out a breath. “Reg, do you wanna–”

“Yeah,” Reggie says, to Alex’s surprise. 

He reaches over his shoulder for the seatbelt and buckles in. “I’m totally starving, I’d definitely be up for getting food. What about that new pizzeria place in town? I heard they put mango on their pizzas. _Mango_?” he snorts and chuckles, before turning to look out the window. “Wild.”

_Do you wanna talk about it?_

From the backseat, Luke sighs. 

Alex presses his lips together. “Alright, that sounds good to me.”

They pull out and Alex feels Reggie shrink beside him. They get half way to the main strip before Alex catches Luke’s eye in the rearview and decides to pull over again. 

He turns the engine off. 

Reggie doesn’t say anything. 

Luke reaches forward between the seats and puts a hand on the crook of Reggie’s elbow. “Hey,” he says, gently. “We’re sorry, Reg. We didn’t realise.”

Reggie attempts to laugh but sniffs instead. He runs his knuckles beneath his nose. “You weren’t supposed to see that. Super awkward.”

“Did we…” Alex begins, turning in his seat. “Did we make it worse?”

Reggie doesn’t say anything, but he starts picking at calluses on his palm. Luke reaches further forward and covers his hand with his own. “Dude, stop.”

The bassist stils and Luke slips his fingers in the spaces between Reggie’s and curls them into a fist. 

“You never told us,” Alex says, watching their hands. 

Reggie swallows, drops his head back, but doesn’t say anything. 

“You can talk to us about it. We’ve always been honest with each other.” Luke glances to Alex. “We’ve _always_ supported each other, you know that.”

Alex is blinded by the memory of his parents’ faces when he told them how he felt about other boys. 

He’d cried on Luke’s shoulder that night and slept in his bed for three more nights after that - only getting up to use the bathroom and eat the occasional meal. On the third night, Luke had forced him out from beneath the duvet, in order to change the sheets. 

On the fourth night, Reggie joined them, too, and they squeezed together into Luke’s double bed, the two boys pressed up on either side of him. Reggie’s arm had fallen over his waist, while Luke’s leg was hooked around the back of his knee.

The following morning, Reggie had directed them to a garage, where they were able to get a new heating valve. Alex had cried when the mechanic told him it was fixed. Why had it been so easy?

“We’re family, Reg,” Luke says, now, bringing Alex back to the present. “You, me, Alex. We’re us.”

Alex smiles and puts his hand in, too. 

“And you don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” Luke begins. “But–”

“But we’re here if you do,” Alex finishes and Luke smiles at him. Alex tightens his grip on Luke’s hand. 

Reggie squeezes his eyes shut and nods. He pulls his hand out of the stack to run his fingers under his eyes. “Can we get pizza, now?” he asks, digging the heel of his palm into his eye socket. 

Alex smirks and starts the engine. Luke rolls backwards and puts his foot up on the centre console.

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Chat to me on Tumblr: @soemthingsparkly <3


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